Same team, same service, new style

Professional Law Services Ltd (Pro-law) are delighted to announce that today, 1 April 2025, we have begun a new phase of our business. From now on, we will be providing our legal services as part of Nexa Law Limited (Nexa), a national firm of solicitors, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (number 633025).

This means that, as part of a large practice –

• we will ourselves be able to offer a wider range of legal services than we previously could; and
• we will be able to refer clients that need legal advice and help that we are not equipped to provide to people within the Nexa network that do have those specialisms – there are more than 150 of them!

Ian Mason becomes a Consultant Solicitor with Nexa, and continues to be assisted by Koren Pitcher and Samantha Hirons. As a reflection of that, we will be adding a new trading name, “Pro-law Consultancy”, which is the name you will see outside our office.

Speaking of which, we have at the same time moved to a different Unit in Bude Business Centre: Unit 19, immediately to the left on the ground floor through both sets of double doors. This should hopefully make the office easier to find, but also avoid clients with limited mobility having to struggle up the stairs.

Our association with Nexa will provide our clients with all the advantages, and heightened regulatory protections, of being served by a solicitors’ practice – including the facility of a Client Account for transactional work, which we have not been able to offer up to now, and direct access to various government business portals.

But we’re the same people, with the same professional approach: keen to continue providing the same client-friendly service to you in the future.

– The Pro-law Team (Ian, Koren and Samantha)

Advice Now! 

At Pro-law, we always strive to assist our clients in resolving their legal issues. However, if we do not provide a particular area of law, other routes may need to be taken.

If we can’t help, then try visiting Advice Now:
“We equip individuals and communities to deal effectively with life’s legal problems. We do this by providing legal support including easy-to-use information, legal self-help tools, and education and training to help people make sense of the law. We research what works, and collaborate with others to challenge justice problems through policy and campaigns work.”

Advice Now value providing legal education for the public, which we feel mirrors our own aims. 

Click here: https://www.advicenow.org.uk/

The Client Care Procedure – What to Expect

Client care procedures vary in each company. By writing this blog we hope to give you an insight as to what you can expect by using our services, and the type of professional interaction you could be receiving from other legal professionals. By following these steps, we feel our business provides a high-quality service to our clients.

Please note, that with our Wills and LPA services, we send out a questionnaire to the client beforehand to ensure important details are captured before the meeting, this is so we can give an accurate costing dependant on the complexity of the matter.

1. Free consultation (of up to 1 hour)
   We offer a free no obligation consultation with our clients before they commit to working with us, this is to help build trust with our clients and ensure they are comfortable in using our firm for their legal issues.

2. Client care letter
   If it has been agreed that the client would like to instruct us our next step is to send our formal client care letter to them, which outlines the details from the meeting above to ensure that both our firm, and our client have understood the needs correctly and there is a clear plan going forward. Within this client care letter, we attach our firms Terms of Business alongside an acceptance form which needs to be returned to us, signed and dated before we undertake any work. Alongside this, we also request identification at this stage. Our fees are also outlined in our client care letter. Dependant on the service being provided will determine whether this will be a standard fixed fee or based on our hourly rate basis.

3. Undertaking of service
   When we undertake any service, we communicate clearly with our clients if there are any outstanding issues that may arise further, such as personal questions that we cannot answer ourselves. Whilst working on the matter, if this is taking longer than first anticipated, we will endeavour to give updates and reasonings behind the delay. Ensuring our client is kept up to date and involved.
   
   
4. Finalising and closing the matter
   Once the matter has been complete and all outstanding work has been invoiced, and once payment has been received, we will then close your file. Any original documentation that you have passed on to us will be returned, unless you wish for us to hold original document i.e., Wills or registered LPA matters, where you wish for us to retain the originals in our fireproof cabinet (free of charge). Although, we do keep digital copies for our own records either way.

5. Follow up and support
   Sometimes, depending on the service you have used, we may contact you in the future to see if the matter was resolved. For example, for our LPA service, we contact you to ensure that the registered documents have been received and offer support and guidance if there is any confusion with the documentation received.
   Moreover, with our Will matters, we advise our clients to review every few years or once a big change has happened. For clients that have previously made Wills with us, we contact them every 4 years to see if they would like to update.

If you are looking for bespoke legal assistance, who offer a professional, friendly and client focussed approach, then feel free to get in touch with us.

Day in the life: Legal Assistant and Secretary

The role of a legal secretary means being able to work in an often fast-paced, structured and detail-orientated manner. Within my role, I am the go-to for administrative tasks, but I have also taken on my own fee earning work as a develop my career.

Like most office workers now, my days are split between working in the office and working at home. I have drafted this blog based on a full day in the office. I arrive shortly before 9am so I have time to get set up for the day.  

Administrative Focus

I kickstart the day by reviewing my emails, whether it’s from clients or colleagues. I take note of urgent matters or matters that need discussion so they can be highlighted in our team meeting, which typically take place early on in the day. As a small team, we like to stay up to date with what each person is up to and it gives me an opportunity to take things off their plates.

I then focus on organising the day. I check what client appointments are taking place and review any documents that need to be prepped beforehand. Today we had 2 clients coming in to the sign their Wills, so they needed to be printed, and the invoice needed to be drafted.

I check the post-box to see what has been delivered, and scan on the letters to the correct file and pass the original on to the appropriate staff member if necessary. Occasionally I will be asked to action the letter depending on the matter.

Koren, our paralegal, and I share the work phone as necessary. This involves taking and making client calls, responding to any voicemails left from the previous evening, and make a note of any conversations had.

As it is nearing the end of the month, I run off a work-in-progress report so Ian and Koren can let me know which clients need to be invoiced. Once approved, I create the invoice and send it out via email or post.

Client Focus

I have recently taken the lead in managing Lasting Power of Attorney clients. I have been completing these legal documents, with the oversight of Koren, for some time now, but it has reached the stage where I have acquired enough knowledge to take the matter on from start to finish. This is a massive step in my legal career and professional confidence. Today I have 4 separate LPAs to draft and then send off to the respective client for review.

Furthermore, I carry out research and complete various other legal document preparation in the background. So today I also completed draft county court forms in relation to claim for possession of a property and drafted a tricky Statement of Reason to accompany a Will.

Finally, I have been tasked with scanning a lot of historical documents for a client (a couple of boxes worth). This can seem like a repetitive task, so I like to do it in short bursts, particularly as there is little time pressure.

Social Media

A few months after starting at Pro-law I took on the role of social media coordinator. This involves planning, designing and scheduling posts to go out on our Facebook and Instagram. This is typically something I do when I have some downtime, which tends to fall on a Wednesday. This task does add a touch of creativity to my working week.

Moreover, Koren and I quite like drafting blogs for our clients or potential clients, which gives them an insight into the services we offer. All of which I proofread and add to the website.

Finally

At the end of the day, I update my outstanding matters document that I share with my senior, Koren, so we can stay up to date with what has been done and what needs doing.

While it can be a routine job in some respects, it requires high levels of organisation, management, and legal knowledge (to name a few).